Devices used to designate and secure cable arrays in cable troughs are well known. In a typical cable retainer/designation assembly, designation strips and cable retainers are separable components which must be customized to mate with each other as well as with existing cable troughs.
Cable retainers can either be formed integrally with cable troughs or can be provided as discrete units that are affixed to the cable trough at the point of system installation. When cable retainers are formed integrally with a trough, the system provides little, if any, flexibility for varying the number or position of retainers with respect to the trough. Further, if an individual retainer breaks, the entire trough assembly must be replaced. On the other hand, cable retainers that are separately provided and installed on-site, may require cable troughs to be individually machined in order to secure the retainers at preferred locations along the troughs. In either case, there are undesirable costs and time required for the installation and maintenance of retainer assemblies.
Designation strips are used to identify cable arrays routed through cable troughs. These devices typically include the means for mounting a replaceable chart which can be marked to identify the cable arrays. The designation strips are typically resilient snap-on devices that are fitted over the front wall of a cable trough and engage the top and bottom longitudinal edges thereof. When designation strips are used on the same cable troughs as with cable retainers, the strips must be machined or otherwise modified to avoid interference with the retainers. Again, the time and expense required to individually fit each designation strip to a cable trough at each installation site is prohibitive.
More flexible solutions are desired, for performing both the retaining and designation functions.